A Return to Bunker Hill
by AgentT
Summary: Harper returns to Bunker Hill in search of Brendan. He finds that lines crossed are not so easily brushed away and that betrayal often brings consequences for all.
1. A Return to Bunker Hill 1

"The war is not important until a life is laid on the line for it and the result is not important until a life is remembered for it." - Remenberance, Asver Mihi  
  
"Vina is welcome to stay. I'd definitely need someone like her." Dylan said to Saran. The olive skinned Jaguar commandant merely looked at him.  
  
"How strange. You seem to hold such reserve for us, and reluctance to 'fight our war' and yet you extend a welcome."  
  
"Vina is quite unique." Dylan said, thinking of Harper and Trance. And even Tyr. He had stopped emitting a growling sound every time he passed her or saw her on the bridge.  
  
"That she is. Generations of selection led us to her, one of the most formidable soldiers we have. She is perhaps one of the most important things we have against the Dragans. Without her, the Dragans would have been alerted of our espionage attempts long ago."  
  
"I take it then that staying on the Andromeda isn't going to be in your best interest." He said.  
  
"Maybe it would be. Maybe it wouldn't. But the current state of affairs does not permit me to make such a decision. Understand, Dylan-" She said it like it was an insult. He ignored it. "--That things are unstable at best. Vina may be out of our control, but she has just as much to lose as the rest of us. Her devotion to stopping the Dragans is vital to us."  
  
"Well then she's welcome to visit anytime she wants." Hunt said, shrugging.  
  
Saran cast a cautious smile towards him.  
  
"I think you're keeping something from me, Captain." Saran said, wondering who among his crew had taken a liking to Vina. If it was Tyr Anasazi, she may not have to try very hard to fulfill Elsbeth's intentions of putting him into her family line. She smiled and he grew more nervous.  
  
"Aren't we all hiding something?" He asked.  
  
"Capturing the Nietzchean spirit nicely." She replied. They began walking down the corridor of the Andromeda, towards command. "Our reports indicate that the Dragans are in retreat. However, with sustained damages, they still outnumber us. We've still got a ways to go with new fleets."  
  
"And the Andromeda is vital in this-how?" He asked, cutting through all the statistics and schematics. He was not interested in how decimated the Jaguars were, even if it did sound harsh and unfeeling, but he had spent too many hours and too much time fighting a battle he would rather not have his hands, or his crews' hands, in. And to be honest, Dylan felt a little tired.  
  
"Your ship is obviously more powerful than anything the Dragan forces have." She said. "I don't think I need to say more about what we think your role in this war is. You're obligated to help."  
  
"I'm obligated to lend assistance, yes, but not to lead your army into battle." He said, stopping. "I am not your reserve battleship ready for whenever you feel like killing some Dragans."  
  
"I never said you were." She said, watching him. "But your help is vital in our survival. Without you, we have no army."  
  
"Funny, you're the first Nietzchean who has said that. Your peers could learn something from that."  
  
"This is no laughing matter."  
  
Dylan entered command. "I know it isn't. Which is why I'm not laughing when I say that when the time comes, the commonwealth will make it's presence in your war, but until that time, whenever it may be, I am Dylan Hunt, human, this is the Andromeda Ascendant, warship, and we are not going to be at your beck and call." He lowered his voice. "Andromeda."  
  
The andromeda hologram appeared opposite Dylan.  
  
"Send an escort to see to it that Captain Saran gets to her ship and has a safe departure."  
  
She glared at him one final time and walked away, taking a sharp turn towards the hangar.  
  
"Vina, I swear it wasn't on purpose." Harper said, his hands up. His blue eyes looked at her warily.  
  
"Really." She said. She stared down at the soggy mess below her feet and the tipped bucket to the side, still rolling a little, remnant of a practical joke pulled on the wrong person. Her dark hair hung around her face and water dripped from it.  
  
"I think we should talk this out." He said.  
  
"I think you should be quiet before your captain finds you in the airlock." She said, smiling internally as he saw him swallow. She had the same smile, devious and a bit evil. She liked the smile, she found it intimidated people. Harper was definately intimidated. Especially by the revelation that she, like Trance, concealed twin daggers in her boots. He opened his mouth to speak and just as quickly, closed it again.  
  
"Wise." She said. "I guess I should change out of these clothes. And then I guess I should.. be going."  
  
"Do you really have to?" He asked. "Beka might not like you that much right now, but she'll come around. Besides, I like you. And Trance likes you. Not in the same way, but it's two against one. Majority wins, you stay."  
  
"Saran may be a coldhearted Nietzchean." Vina said. "But she's nonetheless my superior. And if she goes, then I think it would be best if I went. Who knows, I'll get out and come back sometime."  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Beneath that personable and may I say very attractive exterior, you're still a Nietzchean. I forgot, I'm not supposed to like them." He said, sneering.  
  
"But I'm glad I changed your view of one." She said. She smiled and started to walk out. She stopped. "Tell your captain I said thanks. For reserving judgment."  
  
He stared at her face and her brown eyes, watching him with amusement and caution. He knew she never let caution slip away, it was as part of her as Nietzchean genetics. Her vody moved like a cat on the prowl, she was always watching behind her back, and everywhere else. She was trained to always keep a close eye, always be on alert, and for that, she had gained a reputation throughout the galaxy for being covert and wily. He saw it in Tyr, how he moved about in situations, observing with his keen eyes, quietly calculating in his mind how he could silently manipulate events to fit his agenda, which seemed to always end up benefitting the Andromeda. His loyalty was often called into question, but Harper knew that the big guy wouldn't betray them. He hoped he was right. She did it too, her calculations, but at least he could tell that she never did it to the Andromeda. He knew she would never do it to harm Dylan, Tyr, Beka, or Trance. Or him. He knew it, but really, he felt small bits of guilt in his heart for doubting and only hoping he was right.  
  
When she left, the doors swished closed behind her and Harper sighed. He had never met anyone like her before, no human, no Nietzchean. And for once, she didn't regard him as pathetic, useless, inferior, or any other name he had been called. And she was the only Nietzchean to defend the crew against the majority of Nietzchean command who were convinced that the only way to win against Dragans would be to bomb their supply routes, which happened to be at the slave trades, where thousands of humans were. She had found something worthy in the human race and it didn't involve weapons or ships. It had nothing to do with anything that could obviously benefit the Jaguars. And yet she saw it worthy.  
  
And Seamus Harper had found a new friend. And she was gone now, and it was likely he would never see her again. The lines between humans and Nietzcheans were large and their treachery wide. In recognizing that humans were not quite as inferior as every other Nietzchean repelled them to be, she had been perhaps, the smartest of them all. And she now had more than one enemy. It was her that argued that genetically, perhaps inferiority could be stated, but examples like Dylan Hunt show that humans were not inferior by much. And that had made all the difference.  
  
  
  
7 months later  
  
"Rommie, missiles away, aim for the armory." Dylan commanded. Immediately he saw several projectiles leave the Andromeda. Soon they found their target and the numbers started to roll in.  
  
"Three major armories have been destroyed, approximately 6% of their fleet is completely immobilized." Rommie announced, her voice calm and neutral. "We have an incoming transmission from Captain Revador."  
  
"On screen."  
  
"Captain, good work." The uniformed Nietzchean said, smiling. Behind the smile, Dylan knew, there was motive. And the motives of the Nietzcheans could either be very obvious, or very subtle. Revador, however, was very capable of both, whichever seemed to suit his purpose at the moment. In fact.. he reminded Dylan of Tyr.  
  
"We'll be on our way now." Dylan said, if not rudely, a bit short. He didn't want to fight their battle anyway, but his own commonwealth had drawn him into it. Irony had it's strange ways of working. "Thank you for your assistance, Captain."  
  
The screen reverted to a view of space and the crew began to dissipate, off to do their various items of personal business.  
  
"Beka, you have the bridge." Dylan said. The doors opened and he entered the corridor.  
  
"Incoming transmission." Rommie said. She paused. "It's for you, Harper."  
  
"I'll get it in engineering." Harper said. His stomach tightened and he wondered what it could be. The last time he received a transmission especially addressed to him, it had resulted in the revolution that killed hundreds. He wasn't ready to lead the pack into slaughter again.  
  
When he entered, he pushed a button and the message came up as a hologram. What he saw made his throat dry and his stomach turn.  
  
"Hey cousin." The hologram said. Brendan grinned. There was a small scar above his eye. Harper had never seen it before. "I don't know if you're going to get this, but I wanted to update you on our situation. We're-we're slowly making it." His grin faded. "The Dragans got reinforcements yesterday, twice the size of the fighters we have. They started pushing us toward the border today, trying to corner us into their forces behind us in New York. But we're pushing back." His grin broke out again. "Don't worry about me."  
  
But he did worry. He worried all the time now, since seeing his cousin in Boston. He had left with a heavy heart, knowing Brendan was doing the right thing, but worrying that he would leave and never see him again. Thinking that he would die not on his deathbed with friends and family by, but on a dirty pavement or cell with a few Nietzcheans holding smoking guns.  
  
He did worry. And there was only one thing he could do about his worrying.  
  
"You seem enthusiastic to go." Dylan said. Harper was sitting in Dylan's quarters. He wondered how come he didn't have the same comfortable chairs in his room.  
  
"They need help. We can give it to them." He said simply. "I wouldn't call it enthusiasm. You know I like to keep myself out of the line of fire as much as possible."  
  
"I see your point. But the dilemma we have right now is that they are finally getting the legs to fight back. And if the Andromeda goes in and destroys the Dragan forces for them, I don't think it would be beneficial towards them. If they learned to depend on themselves-"  
  
"I know what you mean. If we go in on a white horse and blow the Dragans to smithereens, then they'll think that they're saved and we can just raid every slave planet for them. I get your point." Harper said. "But they really need help. I saw Brendan, it was just a message, but he looked terrible. He's got scars I've never seen before, his voice-"  
  
"If you go, you can take Rommie with you. I'm sure they'll like seeing you two again. I'd send Trance, but things with the Dragans are still heated. Until I'm sure that we're in the safe zone, I need her here."  
  
Harper nodded and stood up.  
  
"Thanks, boss."  
  
"You're very welcome." Dylan said.  
  
"I can't believe we're here again." Rommie said as they entered a dark passage, one like the one they had some time before. She almost expected to see the two young girls again. She reinforced her grip on the large metal case she was carrying. Harper carried another. Both were filled with the things they thought they would need, hopefully enough. She frowned as a rat scuttled across her boot. "Everything looks alike."  
  
"Scared of rats?" Harper asked, not without amusement.  
  
"I was never programmed to be." She said. "However, I see why they're so disgusting."  
  
"Yeah, tell that to the homeless who call them food."  
  
"That definitely explains why mortality rates are so high." She said. "Rats carry disease and if the sick aren't sick enough, they eat rats."  
  
It had recently rained in Boston and the smell of water and grime on the streets infiltrated Rommie's nostrils. She frowned as her circuits automatically calculated the ingredients in the filth.  
  
They stepped beneath a fallen pillar of concrete. A little bit crumbled at their touch.  
  
"Do you even know where he is?" She asked him, looking around.  
  
"Not exactly, but I think I generally do know. Boston is big, but there are only a few places where you won't find Nietzcheans." Harper said, looking into a dark crevice. "I wouldn't start shouting his name, but Seamus Harper doesn't not know how to find someone."  
  
"Who speaks the name of Seamus Harper?" A voice called out. Rommie looked around.  
  
"He's behind us to the left." She whispered.  
  
"Seamus Harper speaks of Seamus Harper." Harper said, turning around to face where his would be interrogator was. "Who wants to know?"  
  
"That's impossible. Seamus Harper died in a rebellion in Tokyo."  
  
The voice was still hidden, though they knew exactly where he was.  
  
"Well last time I checked, I was never in Tokyo and I'm definitely not dead." He said. "Do you know where Brendan Lahey is?"  
  
"Who wants to know?" The voice asked again. "And don't tell me Seamus Harper."  
  
"Where the hell are you, man?" Harper asked, tired of the back and forth banter.  
  
Finally a body stepped out. He had rusty brown hair and his eyes were bright, a sign of sleep deprivation. He held a force lance in his hand and it was aimed at Harper.  
  
"What do you want with Brendan Lahey?" He asked.  
  
"He's a friend." He said. If they wouldn't believe he was Brendan's cousin, then he could pass as a friend, right? "Mind if you point that somewhere else?"  
  
He moved his lance to point at Rommie. Not a major improvement, but it showed he was willing to listen.  
  
"Where's Brendan?" He asked. "I'm on your side, trust me."  
  
"And where did you come from?" The other man asked, looking at them both. "Not from anywhere around here. New clothes, new weapons."  
  
"You're good at seeing things on the spot." Rommie commented. "The resistance needs someone like you."  
  
Great, if you can't talk them down, you can flatter them to death.  
  
"I'd hate to have to do something that would require them to find a replacement." She said coldly.  
  
For a brief moment, Harper sensed fear in the other man. Rommie was not one to usually make threats unless threatened first, but he had noted that the force lance pointed at her had a charge that could render her very impaired.  
  
"Stand down, Darin." Harper's eyes lit up as he heard Brendan. He glanced at Rommie and he could tell she recognized his voice too.  
  
Darin nodded and stepped back. He lowered his force lance, but his eyes still said 'i'm watching'.  
  
Brendan walked into the alley, his face partially hidden by shadow.  
  
"Cousin."  
  
"Hey man." Harper said. He saw Brendan's expression. "What's wrong?"  
  
"We got word that you were dead." He said quietly.  
  
"Got pretty close." He said, thinking of a particular battle with the Dragans. "But I'm not in my grave."  
  
"I see that. And it's good to see you too, Rommie." Brendan said, looking at her. "Come on, we've got to do some celebrating. The great Seamus Harper isn't dead."  
  
"Great?" Harper asked uncertainly.  
  
Brendan nodded. "You've become somewhat of a local legend in Boston. Your first speech that riled the revolution up."  
  
"Really?" Rommie asked. "Harper's a legend?"  
  
"Yes, and the people will be very glad to see you alive and well." Brendan said. He looked behind him. "Darin here is one of the best security people we have."  
  
"I've heard stories about you. About how your starship destroyed hundreds of Nietzchean fighters." He said, not without a sense of awe.  
  
"Well it's not really my ship, more like Rom-"  
  
Rommie quickly elbowed him in the side. "Well we're a crew."  
  
"Come on, Seamus." Brendan said. "We've established a lot since you left. We have headquarters now, we've got friends all over the country and we've got communications with them. We can send messages, receive them. Everyone is updated."  
  
"That's great." Harper said. They were walking in a dark tunnel-like passage. He could barely see in front of him. With the infared and night vision sensor arrays he installed though, he was sure Rommie could see fine.  
  
Suddenly there was a rustle. Brendan raised a hand and they stopped.  
  
"There's four Nietzcheans in front of us. They can't see us as long as we don't move." Rommie said.  
  
"How do you know that?" Brendan asked.  
  
"One of them is leaving. The other three are looking around. I think they're trying to find something." She zoomed into one particular Nietzchean who was poking in a garbage can.  
  
There was a mumble between the two and they departed.  
  
"We're clear." Rommie said after a moment of silence. They emerged from hiding. Brendan looked at Rommie differently now, but he said nothing.  
  
They took great pains to return to the resistance headquarters. The main purpose was to weave through hard to find places in order to discourage the enemy and make it harder to detect. And though Harper knew that Rommie could find her way through the entire city in the dark without any guidance, he also knew that no one knew who she was and that any indication of her android powers could reveal their secret.  
  
"And here we are." Brendan said. "Listen up, people!"  
  
They entered a deep underground chamber full of people. Their heads all snapped towards Brendan and their attention was on him.  
  
"Seems we were mislead by wrong communication. My cousin, your ally, Seamus Harper, lives, and has come back to help us."  
  
There was silence at first and Harper was afraid that they would boo and hiss. He saw all eyes on him. Brendan looked at him. "Say something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They want to hear the great speechmaker." Brendan said, grinning.  
  
"Me?" He squeaked. "I'm no speechmaker. That was a one time gig."  
  
"Just say something." He pushed Harper up.  
  
"Uh...hi." He shrugged. "Uh, as you can see, I'm not dead. I'm very much alive and as I can see, so are you. I know you've had hard times. You've lost friends and family and sometimes you--you want to just give up. But as much as that seems like a good idea, I remember that I had those chances too."  
  
He looked at Rommie who stepped forward and stood next to him. "I had a lot of chances to give up. Hell, last time I was here, I wanted to give up. But the people around me--" He glanced at Brendan, who smiled. "They never let me give up. And I remember that if I had given up then I would be letting them win because they want us to give up. So if you don't fight and don't demand your freedom, then at least don't give up, because then they'll all win. And depend on each other cause they're your family now."  
  
He put an arm around Rommie and another around Brendan.  
  
"Hear him, people." Brendan said. "He's right. The damn Nietzcheans want us to give up and we won't!"  
  
There was a cheer and Harper sensed a surge of patriotism. Patriotism for a country that wasn't.  
  
"Harper, most of the sensors I placed in the city last time are still there. I could place more though." Rommie said.  
  
He nodded. "That might be a good idea."  
  
As Rommie went to Brendan and asked about the ideal locations for arrays, Harper stood in the midst of the rebellion. He could feel the energy buzzing about, people who were war-torn but ready to fight. It felt good. 


	2. A Return to Bunker Hill 2

"So this is our Bunker Hill, huh?" Brendan said, walking up.  
  
"Quite a place."  
  
"I sent one of our guys to help Rommie." He said. "She's looking well."  
  
"Yeah, its like she never ages." He couldn't resist saying. "What about you, man? How are things?"  
  
"Well, since you left, we've gotten organized. And we've actually had families. A lot of the children we liberated from the slave camps live with us. We were all sons and daughters at one point. Seems right they would be with us."  
  
"How about you?" Harper asked, pointing at his cousin. "I'm more worried about your condition."  
  
"I'm fine." He nodded. "I'm not running through meadows or anything, but I've got good friends. And family."  
  
"Brendan!" Darin shouted. "Kole is down!"  
  
Brendan and Harper rushed to a screen where Darin, their security monitor, was now getting information from one of the recently placed cameras.  
  
"Two Nietzcheans." Harper said. "Look at that they're just beating him."  
  
"I've got to help him." Brendan said. He started walking out.  
  
Harper ran with him and without a word they both navigated the streets. Harper followed Brendan since he had no idea what had changed about Boston since he had been a younger, abeit already handsome, Seamus Harper.  
  
When they reached Kole, he was lying down on his back, unconscious. Harper and Brendan quickly ducked into an alleyway and watched from the shadows, making sure the guards had left already. Brendan could see his wound on the side of his head. Blood dripped down onto his shirt and he knew it was serious and he would die unless he got the right attention soon.  
  
"I don't think they're around." He whispered to Harper. Seamus nodded.  
  
"What the--" He heard shouts and gunfire. He saw a large group of guards rushing onto the scene and then a group of humans running in, weapons blazing. Only their aim was less than spectacular. Harper internally groaned.  
  
"What do we do?" Harper asked.  
  
"The only thing we can do." Brendan said. He charged his force lance. "That's Michael and his unit. I didn't send them and I don't know who the hell did." He looked angry, but he ignored his own feelings as he prepared to help his friends.  
  
They burst out of the shadows and aimed, hitting the guards. Out of the corner of his eye, Harper saw another figure jump down from the impossibly high roof of the nearby building and he did a double take.  
  
"Trance?"  
  
Another figure jumped down.  
  
"Vina?" He squinted. He wanted to rub his eyes and pinch himself.  
  
"Came for the fight, don't mind if we join." Vina said, pulling out her force lance. She quickly disposed of one guard. Harper shrugged and aimed. He had rid himself of two guards before one ran from behind and hit him over the head. He fell down and in an effort to keep himself out of the way of the fighters, he pulled himself into a corner. He rubbed his head and his vision became blurry. Then it went black.  
  
Soon things became chaotic. The guards were all but dissipated but instead of a triumphant cheer, the resistance turned to look at their two unexpected guardians. Kole, now conscious, was being held up by two fighters.  
  
"Who are you?" Brendan asked. He was still angry at the order that someone gave to attack the guards. But during the battle, he noticed them helping their side. He eyed Vina visciously, as he knew she was Nietzchean.  
  
"My name is Trance. We're from the Andromeda. We came to help Harper." She said.  
  
"I'm Vina. You obviously noticed by now that I am Nietzchean. Don't worry, I don't bite." She said, not without a little sarcasm. She had dealt with human ignorance before, it was not the first time. She certainly hoped that Harper's cousin, whichever one he was, was as smart as Harper. "Brendan?"  
  
"Who wants to know?" Brendan asked.  
  
"I do. And since Harper is--decommisioned." She saw him slowly blinking his eyes and probably wondering what he was doing on the pavement. "You're the only ones who can help me."  
  
Trance looked at Brendan and he knew she knew who he was. "Brendan."  
  
"How do we know you're not spies?" He asked. "Nietzchean scum aren't neccesarily welcome here."  
  
"Who are you calling scum?" Vina asked, venom coming out in words. "Last I checked, I wasn't the one who assembled the rag tag team to fight a whole patrol team of Dragans. It was a stupid move, you could have all been killed." She looked at the injured. "And a whole lot of you are injured. If we hadn't shown up--"  
  
"We don't need your insult and ridicule." He said, just as venomous. "We've spent our entire lives losing to your kind and we're not going to take anything from you, no matter who you say you are."  
  
"Can we stop yelling?" Trance said. She knew Vina could sound harsh, and yes, Vina was harsh sometimes. But she cared about Harper. And whatever it was she would decide to say, whether it was complimentary, or the brutal truth, she knew Vina's only intention was to help. "These people need help and we can't help them by standing around and arguing."  
  
Vina cast one final look at Brendan before she stepped back. She went to Harper, who was now sitting up, and crouched. "Are you okay?"  
  
"My head hurts a little, but I think I'm all right." He said. He looked up, upon realizing who was speaking. "Vina?"  
  
"Looks like you've got a case of amnesia." She said, smiling. "You said that to me before you were knocked out."  
  
"I remember now." He said, wincing. "How did you know--"  
  
"Dylan. I ran into him and he told me where you were." She helped him up and they walked to the group.  
  
"You know these people, Seamus?" Brendan asked. Harper stared at his cousin. His eyes pleaded, don't do this to me. Don't bring me a Nietzchean.  
  
"Yeah they're my friends." He said. "Actually they're not." He looked at the two women, who were looking at him questioningly. "They're family."  
  
"We need to get out of here." Brendan said. He waved and the entire group moved as one, Brendan leading them back home. Harper, Trance, and Vina trailed behind.  
  
"Nice seeing you again." Harper said, feeling slightly nervous. He wasn't sure if the feeling in his stomach was hunger, pain from his fall, or because he didn't know what to do around Vina. "Looking nice."  
  
"Save it for later, Harper." She said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"You got it, babe." He looked at Trance then and smiled.  
  
They made their way into the tunnels, weaving past checkpoints. Vina made it a point to look up at some of the security cameras.  
  
When they entered, Kole was immediately taken for treatment and a group of angry humans confronted them. The rest of the room stood in stunned silence as a Nietzchean was admitted into their midst.  
  
"What the hell is the Nietzchean here for?" Mason asked, his eyes irate.  
  
"She's--" Brendan turned to Harper.  
  
"She's my friend. And this is Trance. They both came to help us." Harper said.  
  
Shouts of disbelief and 'how do we know?'s rose up to a dull roar.  
  
"Hey, quiet down!" Brendan said. He didn't have to trust her, but he couldn't let a mob mentality rule. "If Seamus--" He looked down. "If Seamus says they are his friends, then they're our friends too."  
  
He stepped next to Vina. "At least until we have our suspicions." He muttered to her.  
  
"Words of a true leader." She commented. "They listen to you."  
  
"I teach them to listen to each other and themselves. I'm not important."  
  
She looked at him in surprise. "Most Captains and Commanders would try and save themselves, but a real leader prepares and trains his crew to perform as well with or without him. He ensures their chance of survival by simply making them depend on their own abilities. Nice job." She said.  
  
"I don't trust you." He said bluntly.  
  
"Good idea. I don't trust you. I only trust myself, Harper, and Trance."  
  
"You're Seamus' friend, so you're all right."  
  
"I've watched you since we arrived. You need strategy. A lot of your units are blindly wandering, you're losing too many lives on simple and stupid mistakes." She said. "Not to be blunt."  
  
"My people are risking their lives--"  
  
"And if they do so, they should risk them knowing that their unit leaders know what they're doing. Trust me, they don't. They're running around blind."  
  
"And why should I trust your judgment?" He asked, crossing his arms. Harper, Rommie, and Trance were looking at them from a distance.  
  
"I think they make a cute couple." Trance remarked to Rommie, momentarily forgetting Harper was there.  
  
"Gee, thanks, Trance." Harper said. "As if I'm not tired of Dylan and Tyr getting all the babes. Sure they've been evil and conniving and homicidal. But she isn't. Now I have to compete with my own cousin."  
  
"Nietzcheans are very selective." Rommie said. "I doubt you or Brendan have to compete."  
  
"Thanks." He said sarcastically. But inside, he was feeling a blow to the ego.  
  
"I had originally planned an attack tonight. You have that knack for strategy." Brendan said slowly, reluctantly, as if he was being forced to accept her.  
  
"It's one of my specialties." She said, a smile appearing.  
  
"I guess for now, I'll have to accept that you're here." He said. "I'll never trust you."  
  
"I'll never trust you, and neither the twain shall trust." She said.  
  
He turned and walked away. He stopped to talk to someone, then disappeared into aother room. Vina joined her friends. Harper looked at her, wondering if she had ever thought of Tyr as acceptable. Acceptable to be selected.  
  
"Brendan says to show you the war room." Darin said, walking up to them. He looked at none of them directly. He began to walk away and Rommie noticed several members, leaders, she knew, walking into a long corridor, another part of the labrynth of hideouts.  
  
The war room was an old conference room a part of an old office building that was now covered in grids, maps, charts, and monitors. Each monitor had the city laid out in a map with zones and designations.  
  
"The Nietzcheans are planning to export a large group of people to one of their camps. We don't know where it is, but we do know that we won't ever hear or see them again if we don't stop the Dragans. Since their slaves are pushed into the barracks at night, if we can cause a distraction over here-" He pointed at a location on the central map. "-Then we set off some explosives near their floaters, and get these people out. They're only planning on moving one section tonight."  
  
"And how do you expect to do this?" Vina asked. "If you set off an explosion here, they'll automatically halt all attempts to move anyone off the planet. Your objective will be reached, but how do you expect to move these rescued refugees en masse? Your men will all be fighting the Dragans."  
  
"That is where strategy comes in. If we can free them at this point, they'll have nowhere to run except into the city. The Nietzcheans don't feel as comfortable in the city as they do in their own territory. We've destroyed sections enough that things are shifted and they won't be able to update their maps fast enough to know where they're going. We can relay to them where to go."  
  
She shook her head. "What prevents them from placing one of their own people inside the refugee camp? One knows where you're hiding, they all will."  
  
They fought openly while she was always in shadow, working for the Dragans and for herself, never really revealing which she had an agenda for. They long found out that they could not confine her to a chair on a ship and expect her to obey orders. She was too keen, too quick for it. Then they started letting her go, letting her do what she wanted, take what she needed. And when the missions came, she accepted them, because in exchange, they realized they could not control her. After all, the last one who tried....well he was no longer available to talk about it.  
  
"But they'll have to move their prisoners sooner or later. And when they do, they won't be able to spare the manpower to guard everyone." Brendan said.  
  
"Then it's your show." Vina said, smiling. She was glad he had proven her wrong. Even if he had tried to and failed, then she would be content in knowing that this Brendan Lahey was no fool. Even if upon further discussion, Vina would have eventually destroyed his basis of claims. She would let him run through his folly. It was her duty to inform him of what he was doing, not embarass him in front of everyone.  
  
"We'll set up here, here--" He began to point out spots on a large grid, marked by camps and rebellion territory.  
  
"Move your second unit west." Rommie said. "If you do that, then you'll be able to redirect forces easier, in case either unit gets overwhelmed."  
  
Brendan nodded. "We've got eyes and ears at these locations. The Dragans have been losing a lot of manpower to the war. They're depleted and it's our time to make ourselves known again."  
  
Everything's a speech, isn't it? Vina thought. It was hard putting hope into the hopeless. If you could do it, then do it to the best of your ability.  
  
"Unit one, we move into position as soon as we're ready." He looked at Harper. "Seamus?"  
  
"While you're doing this, Rommie, Trance, Vina, and I are going to do some damage here in their center of operations. This is where they get information and send information. Dragan ship to Dragan ship. It's too guarded for a large group to get into but four makes for perfect."  
  
"All right then. We have eight hours til they arrive, start preparing."  
  
When they had dismissed, Harper, Vina, Trance, and Rommie stood together. Their talk was hushed whispers.  
  
"If you're right, and we do have a collaborator in the group, then tonight a lot of people are going to get hurt." Trance said. Her gold-brown skin contrasted the drab grey concrete of the room.  
  
"Then for the sake of them, I hope I'm not. But it's what I think. Since I arrived, I've thought it possible." Vina said.  
  
"They seem so loyal." Rommie said. "Almost developing a worship- complex."  
  
"Shame. Those are the worst complexes." Vina said. "Loyalty is an odd thing. The unwise might mistake a desparate act to save oneself for loyalty. The resistance is on a precarious point. Someone who was convinced that the Dragans would win eventually might position himself or herself in a place to say...."  
  
"Exchange the resistnace for their life?" Rommie finished. She nodded. "Very likely."  
  
"So who is it?" Harper asked. "My money is on Darin. But Brendan trusts him completely."  
  
"Do you trust me?" Vina asked Harper. He nodded. "Are you sure?" She smiled and he became worried. He nodded slowly. "If I pointed a weapon at your head, how trusting would you still be?" For effect, her hand reached toward her force lance, holstered to her leg. She saw his eyes follow the weapon. "Do you trust me to deliberately miss? Trust is a tricky thing. The leader of any group will always be the most vulnerable when it comes to trust. Because he cares for everyone and there's always one that wants his own way."  
  
"So let's find out who the traitor is." Rommie said. "Whover it is, they'll be leaving the compound and heading to the Nietzcheans to tell them. This actually narrows some of it down, because it's most likely that the traitor is top ranking. Someone that was in this room."  
  
"Darin." Harper said.  
  
"You've got some grudge against him, Harper?" Trance asked, puzzled. "You seem awfully quick to say it's him."  
  
"Maybe. Maybe not. But there's something off with that guy, I'm tellin' ya, he's not right."  
  
"Well, let's take a head count of who was in here and who isn't here now." Vina said. They left and entered the main room where people were milling around, either discussing plans or packing equipment.  
  
"I see four that are unaccounted for." Rommie said quickly, and most efficiently, since she had stored in her data banks the exact roster in the room. "Darin Fait, Wesley Brachel, Nikai Veiner, and Rachela Modken."  
  
"Darin, what did I say?" Harper said, snapping his fingers.  
  
"Stop jumping to conclusions. Just because you don't like him--"  
  
"It's not that I don't like him, it's that he gives off this weird vibe, you know? This I'm-not-so-normal-I'm-actually-a-homicidal-robot kind of feeling." He circled around Trance. "I don't like this."  
  
"Let's find out where everyone is. Let's each take one of the four and ask everyone where they are. Whoever's stories aren't corroborating, we'll find." Rommie said. They separated and each went on their own questionaire. It was harder for Vina and Trance, since they were new and unknown, but people took to Trance's gentle voice and Vina...well, they still didn't like any Nietzchean.  
  
"I'm Jaguar. I thought they'd like the side that hates their enemies." She said once they regrouped.  
  
"Sometimes people are unresponsive." Trance said, shrugging. "What did you find out?"  
  
After sharing their stories, and piecing it together, there was only one name left on the list.  
  
"Rachela." Rommie said. "Makes sense. From what I know of her, she has always been the most outspoken about their defeats."  
  
"Well, let's find her and ask her to politely explain why she isn't where she's supposed to be." Vina said. 


End file.
